Photo: U.S. soldiers, on the prowl for terrorists in Abuja.
United States’ soldiers and the Department of State Services (DSS) personnel have arrested some suspected terrorists at Trademore Estate, Lugbe, Abuja, Nigeria’s capital city in a sting operation.
The arrest follows a terror red alert as the threat of imminent terrorist attacks on soft targets in Abuja looms as residents of the city are subjected to tortuous apprehension.
The chairman of Trademore Estate Phase 3, Adewale Adenaike, said the security operatives closed down the estate gates to stop vehicular movements.
He said the security operatives informed him that the estate was closed because they were looking for a suspected terrorist.
Adenaike said that after the sting operation, the security agents drove “away with a couple of people from the estate.”
He said, “We were in our houses when our estate was locked up. Nobody going out, nobody coming into the estate.
“As the chairman, I came out to find out what was happening in the estate. I discovered it was a sting operation by our DSS and some American soldiers.
“It was alleged, I repeat, it was alleged, right, that they were looking for somebody who had suspected terrorist activity, it was alleged as such.
“As I was approaching the gate to my own street, the heavily masked DSS guys stopped me from going, and I told them I can’t stop because people were calling me for information so they needed to tell me why they were there, and that was how I got to know about the alleged terrorist activity.
“And because they were DSS and with the American army I had nothing to say,
“I just said okay, they had to do what they had to do, and when they finished what they were doing, all we saw was to see them drive away with a couple of people from the estate.
“As I speak to you I do not have details of what happened, I don’t know what happened. There has been a lot of insinuation and rumour.
“I am not a rumour monger, therefore, I refuse to escalate the rumour I have been hearing.”
Periscope International recalls that the U.S. government had earlier this week raised the alarm that terrorists were planning to attack government buildings, places of worship, and schools in the Federal Capital Territory.
The U.S. and UK governments have since followed up the terror alert with warnings to their citizens living in Nigeria to avoid all non-essential travel or movement, stay alert, avoid crowds, and follow local news.
